


Down to the Sea

by Takara_Phoenix



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Merman!Percy, Pining, Slash, courting, oblivious!Percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28734048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: Triton creates a new animal for Percy, when Percy shows him a picture of an octopus-tailed cat and expressed disappointment that it wasn't real. Still, Percy doesn't realize Triton's in love with him.
Relationships: Percy Jackson/Triton
Comments: 35
Kudos: 408





	Down to the Sea

PJatO || Tritercy || PJatO || Tritercy || Down to the Sea || Tritercy || PJatO || Tritercy || PJatO

Title: Down to the Sea – The Eight-Legged Sea-Cat

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, courting, fluff, pining, obliviousness

Main Pairing: Triton/Percy

Percy Jackson Character: Perseus Jackson

Godly Characters: Triton, Triteia, Pallas, Calliste

Summary: Triton creates a new animal for Percy, when Percy shows him a picture of an octopus-tailed cat and expressed disappointment that it wasn't real. Still, Percy doesn't realize Triton's in love with him.

**Down to the Sea**

_The Eight-Legged Sea-Cat_

The Titan War and the Giant War were more like distant memories. Horrid nightmares, really. They laid nearly ten years back. Percy had graduated high school, went to college in New Rome, was witness to Annabeth planning and building New Athens. And then he left.

He'd tried, he really had. Doing the things considered normal, staying around for the sake of his family and friends. But he was juggling too many balls, dealing with PTSD after the war and struggling where to find his own place in all of this. It didn't feel like there _was_ a place for him.

He explained that to his mom and to his closest friends. Told them what he _really_ wanted to do. He wanted to travel the ocean. Explore his father's realm. While his mom was sad to have him go where she couldn't follow, but she also knew that this was _normal_. Percy had moved out for college already, now he would just move away farther. And it didn't mean he was out of the world.

For a couple of months, Percy really just traveled all over, wherever the tide took him. Thanks to a favor from his dad, he had it even easier than that. His father had granted him a tail, turned him a merman. And just like that, Percy slipped into the underwater society. This was where he felt at home, with every smile, every shell collected and exchanged at the market for goods. It was so easy to feel like he belonged there and it was far easier to forget everything else.

Down in the sea, here, he was far removed from all reminders of the war. No demigods training to fight, going on missions, no camp shirts, no nothing that served as a reminder. Instead, he got a clean break, he got a fresh start. After his travels, he moved to Atlantis to settle in and build his own life up there. Getting a job, saving up to rent a place and living in an inn until then.

The occasional odd job faded out once he found his true calling. He started working as a teacher at the high school. He had gotten his degree in education, after all. It was just a matter of... convincing the right people to give him a chance. In the end, they found the perfect solution. Percy now taught human cultural studies. Because yes, _The Little Mermaid_ had been right about one thing, merpeople were fascinated by humans. They needed to learn about them, learn what was _real_.

The thing was, his boss was kind of his niece. Princess Pallas, daughter of Triton, was the principal. At first, Percy thought that was a _problem_ , because he knew Triton wasn't a fan of him. But Pallas was pretty great, she kind of reminded him of Annabeth. The two got along really well and quickly became friends, which was how he first met Pallas' sisters Calliste and Triteia. Triteia was the heir to the throne, she worked at the palace under their father, while Calliste was a trainer at the local camp, teaching young mers how to fight. One afternoon, when Pallas and Percy met for a late lunch, her sisters were tagging along and the four of them ended up sharing a meal.

Calliste was pretty great too, Percy ended up regularly meeting her for sparring – fighting on land and fighting under water with a tail, those were very different. Calliste was pretty good at teaching, but her fighting-style somewhat reminded Percy of Clarisse.

And then he grew closer with Triteia and ended up visiting the palace, where he ran into Triton for the first time in so many years. It had been awkward, to say the least. It grew less and less awkward with every time they ran into each other. They started talking, casually. About the weather, or, well, what was the underwater equivalent to the weather (the currents). Then the girls. The job. Slowly, it grew into actual conversations and the awkwardness eased. At one point, they stopped running into each other by accident and actually started meeting up on purpose. Percy liked spending time with Triton, they met up for coffee, then lunch, then even occasional dinners.

"Okay so, Leo sent me this picture", declared Percy, leaning forward. "Look!"

Percy owned a water-proof demigod phone that could communicate between land and sea. A genius little invention of Leo – phones that were demigod-proof – with a godly magic upgrade from Poseidon, allowing Percy to use it under water. So he could talk to his mom and his friends whenever he wanted, despite living many days' travel away from the coast of New York.

"Do tell me what I am looking at, Perseus", requested Triton confused.

"Some toy he found online. He asked me if it's real, like if they exist. _Please_ tell me they're real!"

Percy's voice was filled with excitement as he showed Triton the picture more close-up. A cat, but instead of a full cat-body, it had eight tentacles. It was a cute stuffed toy.

"A... what? No, I don't even know whatever that upper half is?", grunted Triton disturbed.

"A cat! How do you not know what a cat is?", exclaimed Percy disturbed.

He took his phone back and instead looked up cat-videos to show Triton. At first, Triton continued looking disturbed, but after a while he seemed oddly fascinated and mesmerized. Then, he seemed nearly delighted, the more he learned about cats and saw them.

"What a fascinating creature!", declared Triton after a while.

"Right! And you're telling me there are no mer-cats. That's just... depressing."

Triton smiled at him in that way that made Percy's heart flutter but that Percy tried to dismiss. The moment was interrupted by the waiter bringing their food. It was weird that Percy spent every Friday night eating dinner with Triton, but it had just kind of become their ritual.

/break\

Triteia, Pallas and Calliste were sitting together at the table, watching in amusement how Percy chased an octopus-cat through his own living room. He had called them and invited them to meet his new pet. Not that the three of them hadn't seen a mer-cat before – their father had _created them_ and the creation of a new creature was always a big deal, the three of them had been there for the official announcement and the release of a group of them into the wild. However, the very first one Triton had created, it found a very special home, right here, with Percy.

"Look at her, she is absolutely perfect", declared Percy delighted.

The creature was large, in total the size of Percy's torso, the tentacles long as Percy's arms and it was very clingy. A little cat-tongue darted out to lick his cheek, tentacles clinging onto Percy.

"Cute lil kitty", smiled Percy, ruffling the cat's fur.

"What is its name?", inquired Pallas, carefully reaching out to pet it.

"Octon!", declared Percy rather proudly. "I can't believe Tri made that for me though."

"How?", asked Calliste with a deadpan. "How can you not believe that?"

"Huh?" Percy looked up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Calliste", hissed Pallas pointedly, elbowing her older sister.

"What? No. They've been going _on dates_ for months now and Percy here really can't believe dad made a new being for him. Of course he did, he's madly in love", snorted Calliste.

"...With whom?", asked Percy confused, blinking slowly.

"With _you_!", exclaimed Triteia exasperated, shaking her head. "How have you not noticed? Cally is right, you two have been dating for months and now he makes you a new creature."

Percy blinked once more, looking at his three friends. So they went out for dinner, just the two of them, but that didn't make them _dates_. And okay so Triton had made him a whole new creature, but that didn't mean Triton _loved_ him. He was just a good guy. Octon meowed and rubbed his little face against Percy's. Percy was still staring at the three mermaids in confusion.

"He keeps making you presents", pointed Triteia out patiently.

She pointed at a silver bracelet that Percy was wearing. Well. Okay, so yes, perhaps Triton was spoiling him a little bit, but the two of them were friends and Triton liked him. Did he _like_ him...?

/break\

"You _like_ me? Like, like-like? Me? How and when did that happen?"

Triton looked up startled as Percy came bursting into his private chambers. Yes, Percy had access to the king's personal chambers. Percy was directly followed by the creature Triton had made for him.

"Did the octo-feline give it away?", drawled Triton bemused.

"The what now?", asked Percy, watching Triton point at the creature. "Oh, the octopussycat. No."

"The octo-", started Triton. "No one should allow you to name things."

"Your _daughters_ gave it away!", continued Percy, shaking his head. "Our... hanging out... were... dates? Is that why people were acting so weird around me? Because the _king_ is _courting_ me? I thought it was, I don't know, because I'm human, or because I'm a son of Poseidon. But..."

Triton heaved a sigh, watching Percy and the octo-feline approach him. There was a conflicted look on Percy's face and that was the reason Triton had never told Percy. He waited, watching Percy pace and sort out his thoughts, he knew Percy had a process of digesting information.

"You're human. Technically, we're brothers. And this is different for humans. I didn't wish to make you... uncomfortable. I also didn't mean to fall in love with you. It just... happened, gradually. You grew on me, I started enjoying spending time with you. And then I fell in love with you. But I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I _know_ how important all of this is to you, this place, it became your home, I know how hard it was for you to find a place that felt like home. I couldn't take that away from you. It's okay, I was fine... with things as they are."

"You... weird, self-sacrificing martyr", snorted Percy after a moment. "You should have _told_ me."

"But-", started Triton to argue, startled and confused.

"I don't... I don't look at you as my brother", muttered Percy. "All of these... I mean, Apollo is my _cousin_? _Uncle Hades_? C'mon. It's... weird. So I just... kind of... don't look at the gods as _family_ , in that way. Dad, sure, but... it's weird. You're just... You're a hot guy I have been spending a lot of time with. Who's been... wining and dining me. Making me a _pet_! That's... no one's ever done something like that for me! Ever. Look at her, she's _perfect_."

Triton blinked startled as he suddenly had Percy's arms around his neck – and more arms around his torso. Turning a little, he saw the octo-feline wrapping its tentacles around them both. Triton stared at Percy, his eyes so very close. His eyes... and then, suddenly, his lips on Triton's.

"I... did not expect this outcome", admitted Triton sheepishly.

"You should have created new awesome creatures just for me earlier", declared Percy impishly.

He kissed Triton again, the octo-feline meowing in reply and licking Triton's face.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Author's Note:**

> Plan for this year is to dig through ships I love and haven't written as often as I'd like and add more of them! Starting it off with Tritercy because THAT is just always good ;D


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